Loading mechanism



May 22, 1945. P. F. sKoo 2,376,457

' LOADING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l PER F. SKOOG g INVENTOR Y T I A di 4 L. ATTORNEY May 22,1945. 4 P. F. SKQQG 2,376,457-

LOADING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG, 3

A U //A// PER F. sxoos INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented MayZZ, 1945 1 EQADING echanism, I re nskoag, Olympia, wash-4; Application December 7, 1942;. Serial Nos 468,092 1 1 This-invention.relatesitd; a loading; mechanism and is more particularly applicable to loading mechanisms employed in the handlingrofisheet material for; ifitI-OdUBfiQIIxtOYi drying; pressing; or

other proce'ssing' equipment; the. following description; of my invention .thea loading mechanismi. to: WhiChi it; relates isudescribedl ins. connection: withrthe handling? of wooden veneer; sheets iri' their; introduction to drying; presses for: the completion. of 7 their; adhesive joinder -It: will be obviousrhoweverathatithel invention is. not to be limite'dzsby this; description,- as. it is applicable to aivarietyofiuses... i

Loading mechanisms; capable :of. laterally. moving: sheet materiali are lmownin. the prior. art, but it .liaswbeen; the; experience. of ,manyz. that. such loading mechanisms: are. materially limited in their: usefulness. 01's. impose: limitations upon the operiatinnssto. which: they pertain. that. materially retard-1 andsahinderrthose operations. A. known loader of this prior: art provides.loadinglplates fon receivingvandz directing; sheet'smaterial in its forward advancementand .imwhich is employed aapnshersbartfor sweeping said plate on: occasion.

(Due of the principal. difficulties? of1 this prior. art

arrangementsiswthatathis pusherhar iswso dis:- posed that it materially interferes; with them.-

. troductiorr of sheet material-.toethe loading: plate,

opera-,

to: .theiiendli that'the; performance of. the tionisejnotzfully satisfactorm: u c l Hav-ing .inimind: the: defiect'syoflithe prior. art loading mechanisms itwi aniobject ofimyilinven- .tient tolpriovide. a loading; mechanisnrthat, with-- out hindrance; readily: receives and; advances the sheet material. duringzits fopera-tion:

Another: object: Ufi my: invention provide ima'loader of the type described a: pusher means whi'chiisnorma'lly positioned-so asinot. to hinder the; introduction of: sheetrmaterial; toloading plates. employed". in the: mechanisms and yet: is

readilymovahle to itssoperating; position: when de"- siredi r i a Aistill further-andimoreispecificobjectzof my invention. is to rovide; 1 in a-imechanism. of the plate: to form anextensibm thereof; and to provide a nosing therefor; Specifically; the: pusher bar is coupled to draft means which, in conjunction with-means ion positioning the bar above the loading plate, causes the bar to sweep the loading plate and: to advancesohj'ects disposed than across and off theplatewforfurther handlingiand processing operations. The means employed: for moving the pusher bar from itsinormal. position to its operating position is an important phase of my'invention, and includes camming and camfollower surfaces for swinging the pusher bar from itsinormal to-its operating. positionQ. MoreSP cifically, a link, coupledtothe-pusher bar, .hasa cam-following surface which operates in-conjunc tion with: a camsurfacehaving; a fixed relation to the loading plate. The-.linkrisvpivotally. connected, to draft means and is caused; by movement. ofwthe draft means forwardly, to; shift the pusher bar to its. operating. position. Simultane: ously with forward movement of the draft means, the link and. bar is advanced :to cause v theloar to sweep the loading plate.

The novel featureslthat I consider character istic of myinvention are. set. forth. with particularity. in the appended" claims. The invention itself, however, both as :to. its organization and its method of operation, together with, additional objects and advantages thereof, willabest be uh,-

derstood from the following description of aispecific embodiment when; read in connection with theqaccompanyingdrawings; in which i u .1 Figurer 1 isi au perspective view, with portions tive. view showing detail the principal elements of my invention, with portions omitted and others shown in section forconvenience of illu stration;

Figure 3 is a perspectiveview similar to FigA ure 2, but withthe pusher bar in itsoperating position; and 1 Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the pushing element of my invention.

i p to upright legs l2, l2. at either. end. The lower A loading mechanism, to overcome the defects hereinbefore enu nerated, must'have at least two totally distinct characteristics; it must; be capable. of; presenting no hindr'anceto the {handling; of sheet. material; and it must also be capablerof operating to advance sheet. material rapidly and efliciently in the. manner to be. de-

sired, but heretofore unobtainable. Accordingly, a preferred embodiment .of my invention is shown in Figure 1 in connection with a loader which; comprises a plurality of loadingplates in that are generally rectangular in shape each having .a downturned nose H, and each at;

tached near the ends of. this downturne d nose,

endof. eachleg I 2. is provided with a, caster wheel Jiatha ise new .s-i iebl i i during turn rotatably supported by the upright frame member l6, one of which is provided at each end of the rollers. 'In spaced relation to the frame member l6 are similar paired frame members l1, ll. Between members 16 and I 1 a sprocket chain I8 is mounted to pass over end sprockets l9 and 20. Power is applied to sheave throughthe drive sprocket 2| by means of the drive chain 22, which rises above sprocket 2| to sprocket 23 that may be driven reciprocally by means of a drive shaft 24 to which power is supplied in any conventional manner. One flight of chain I8 is attached by clip 48 to the leg l2; From the foregoing it will be seen that a plurality of loading trays l are'maintained .in-a horizontal positioning with respect'to the supporting surface, and are caused, to advance and retract into spaces between the pressure plates 26 of the press P t On desired occasions in the operation of the loader mechanism, a pusher bar 30 is caused to sweep theupper surface of each loading plate Ill. can be seen inFigure 2, and in other views as well, the pusher bar 30 has a surface 3| which, in the normal position of the pusher bar, lies in alignment with the upper surface of the loading plate In. Angularly disposed to surface 3| is a surface 32 and the juncture 33 of ming surface 36 that is provided in fixed relation 7 Each end of the link 34 has an interlocking tongue 38 and the tongues in each link are in opposed reation. Where a plurality of loading plates, as in Figure l,is provided, when'the links are in the erect position of Figure 2, eachlink will interlock with a similar upper and lower cam-following link (here designated as 34a and 34b). Y

'Ateither edge of the loading plate, the endlessdraft chain 31 passes over drive'sprockets 40 and idler sprockets 4|. The sprockets 40 are coupled to a suitably journaled pillar shaft 42 which at its upper end, through a pair of bevel gears 43, has power applied from drive shaft 44 that is driven by a motor 45 or other means. In the showing of Figure 1 each end of the pusher withdrawing movement while the loading plates are being withdrawn upon outward movement of the plates and the frame through a reciprocal driving of the chain 13; In effect, at the time that the pusher bars come into operation, they maintain a fixed positionto sweep the loading plates while the loading plates are withdrawing.

, When the plywood packs have been swept off the extension of said plate, a second surface on said bar angularly disposed to said normally aligned surface and forming therewith a nosing for the loading plate when thebar is in its normal position, and means for disposing said normally aligned surface at an angle to the loading surface of the plate, and for producing relative movement between said bar and said plate.

-2. Loading mechanism, comprising: a horizontally disposed loading plate; reciprocal drive means located above to move parallel to each side edge of the loading plate, said drive means being movable to a point in advance of the inlet end of said loading plate; and means to recipro-' cate said drive means; a pusher bar having a work contact face extending between said drive means, and having a drag link fixedly secured thereto at each end; each said drag link being pivotally secured to one of said drive means and being of a length that the contact face of said pusher bar will lie in the plane of the upper face of said plate when said drive means is positioned in advance of the inlet end of said plate; and said bar and drag links being soproportioned and said plate and chain being so spaced that the contact face of. said bar will be dis' posed angularly to and sweep said plate when the drive means is caused to move from the position in advance of the inlet end of said plate.

3'. Loading mechanism, comprising: a horizontally disposed loading plate; reciprocal drive means located above to move parallel to each side edge of the loading plate, said drive means being movable to a point in advance of the inlet end of said loading plate; means to reciprocate said drive means; a pusher bar having'a bar 30 is thus powered for advancing and retracting movement over the upper surface of the loading plate to andfrom the normal position.

It is customary in the operation of loading plywood packs V to a press P to first insert a pack of plywood sheets to each of the loading plates, at which time, according "to my invention, the pusher bar will be disposed as shown in Figure 2. Power is then applied to shaft 24 to produce an advancing movement on chain l8 which is coupled to the leg H! by the clip 48. This causes the loading plates and the packs carried thereon to be disposed between the pressing plates 26 of the press P. Thereafter, upon withdrawing -movement of the loading plates, the pusher bar 30 said plate.

work contact face extending between said drive means, and having'a drag link fixedly secured thereto at eachend; each said drag link being pivotally secured to one of said drive means and being of a length that the contact face of said pusher bar will lie inthe plane of the upper face of said plate when said drive means is posito and sweep said plate when the drive ,means is caused to move from the position in advance of the inlet end' of' said plate; and camming means for so disposing-said bar with respectto Paar. jsK'ooG. 

